title: Point-of-care nucleic acid testing for infectious diseases.
abstract: Nucleic acid testing for infectious diseases at the point of care is beginning to enter clinical practice in developed and developing countries; especially for applications requiring fast turnaround times, and in settings where a centralized laboratory approach faces limitations. Current systems for clinical diagnostic applications are mainly PCR-based, can only be used in hospitals, and are still relatively complex and expensive. Integrating sample preparation with nucleic acid amplification and detection in a cost-effective, robust, and user-friendly format remains challenging. This review describes recent technical advances that might be able to address these limitations, with a focus on isothermal nucleic acid amplification methods. It briefly discusses selected applications related to the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis, HIV, and perinatal and nosocomial infections.
authors.affiliation: Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, 535 Watson Drive, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. aniemz@kgi.edu
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niemz
authors.forename: Tanya M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Boyle
mesh_terms: D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018743:Perinatal Care; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D009696:Nucleic Acids